Pasta and Paratha is a simple manifestation of my own struggle to bring flavor and pleasure to the mundane task of eating.
The process that finally culminates into the crucial decision of “what’s for dinner” can be exasperating. So, along the pages you will find menu ideas, party food, cooking tips, everyday fare and an occasional gossip!
More than anything this blog is about love and enjoyment of food and its preparation.
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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Stuffed Parathas – The Indian Sandwich!

A lunch box is
my household is a simple or a complicated affair, depending entirely on me, the
mother and the cook. My 6 year old wants to take a cheese sandwich everyday for
lunch (it’s easier to eat Mommy!). The underlying truth behind the preference
is of course that there are no veggies in it. Also, she refuses to carry any
food, the shape or smell of which screams our loud “Indian food” when she opens
her lunch box in the school cafeteria. While I don’t entirely approve of this
attitude of being embarrassed of standing out in a crowd because of food, I
understand that at this age, blending in is more important and hey, nothing can
really beat the convenience of a sandwich!

So basically, if
I fix her a cheese or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich everyday (using wheat
bread of course), things are simple and smooth, she is happy, I am not. And so,
one day I thought what food would be as easy to eat as a sandwich and more
nutritious, not to say sandwiches aren’t but eating the same kind and without
vegetables, definitely not so much.

So here’s what I
came up with as one of the alternatives for the everyday lunch box. I told my
daughter that a sandwich was slices of bread with one or more fillings between
them and a paratha was circles of dough with fillings in between. So it was the
Indian Sandwich! The name did the trick and she was happy to give it a try!

Stuffed parathas
is a common and a popular dish in most households, I simply “vegetablised” and toned
it down for the lunch box.

The Dough

Wheat flour – 2
cups

Water – as needed

Oil – 2 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1
tsp

Salt and pepper

Mix all the
ingredients and knead dough (slightly firmer than what you would knead for a
Roti or a Chapatti). Keep aside for an hour.

The Stuffing

Broccoli- 1
medium crown

Carrots – 2
medium

Potatoes – 2
medium

Cilantro –
chopped finely, half a cup

Seasoned bread
crumbs – half a cup

Coriander powder
– 2 tsp

Lemon juice – ½
tsp

Salt and pepper

Butter or oil
for shallow fry

Boil all the vegetables,
drain and mash them. Add cilantro, bread crumbs and seasonings. Mix well, set
aside for 10 minutes for the flavors to blend thoroughly.

Make a medium
sized ball of the dough and roll it with a rolling pin to make a circle. Stuff
in one and a half tablespoons of the vegetable filling. Gather the dough circle
in the center to form a ball again. Now roll it to a small circular paratha.
You can also press it with your hands along the center and edges and come up
with the small parathas. Heat a flat skillet, cook one side for a couple
minutes and flip over. Once the other side is also cooked, grease the paratha
with oil or butter and shallow-fry till crispy. Serve warm or sizzling hot!

Tips

·You can use poha (flattened rice) in
place of breadcrumbs for binding.

·You can also roll out two small
circles, layer the vegetable stuffing between them and seal the circles along
the side to create one paratha.

·Serve with ketchup, chutney or yogurt.

Interesting fact

·‘Paratha’ means layers of cooked dough.
It is called ‘Palata’ in Burma and ‘Farata’ in Maldives.